Spring coming? Really?

Well, there is a little bit of spring inside the house anyway.  Still -17C (0 F) outside in the mornings and it snowed yesterday so I had to shovel again.

I like the combination of tulips and daffodils.

PS:  Maybe it is coming after all.  There is some brown grass showing these days, it's actually above freezing since I can't remember when, and yesterday I saw lots of Canadian geese out on the golf courses.

BRRRR

I think this has been the coldest weekend so far this year.  Here's what I look like after a 45 minute walk with Hannah at -30 C (-22 F).

I'm wearing two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, my warmest pair of Uggs boots, two sweaters, of course hat and scarf and Rolo's motorcycle mittens, along with my big warm coat.  I can't wear my glasses because they fog up and then freeze.  The fur around my hood, my hair that hangs out and the scarf get all frosty from my breath.

Hannah goes out with just her beautiful wheetie coat - she doesn't seem to mind the extreme cold anymore, although we do limit the length of walks when it is this cold.

Wow, summer in Houston is going to be tough for her...

When above zero is still below zero

Today, FINALLY!!, the temperature went above -17C, which is 0F.  Hannah and I went out to the park for a nice walk in the sunshine at -6C which is 21F for you Americans.  It actually felt quite nice, although I was still wearing the Uggs, heavy coat, scarf, hat and gloves.  Now that the sun rises at a more reasonable time in the morning, we have been stopping at the doggie park for a run.  Before today, it's been pretty rough out there, often -27C - even Hannah feels that cold on her little feeties.

This is a picture Rolo took this morning while fording the river to get to work at -20C.  The Bow River is finally frozen over on both sides of Prince's Island.

This is one of my favorite sights in the morning.  This photo was taken from the north side of the Bow River looking south towards downtown.  You can see all the exhaust systems and cooling towers working on all the high rises as the steam rises from their roofs.

Driving our street is still kind of like 4-wheeling.  The ice is at least 6" thick on top of the pavement and snow holes have frozen to make impressive pot holes in the ice.  I'm sure glad Marilijn isn't here - she definitely wouldn't like it.  And that block heater on Ellen has come in handy during the last week when it was mostly -20C and below.  She likes do get a little warming shot before she has to go out and face the cold and ice.

We've heard from some locals that now that February 10 has passed, it will warm up.  I guess that depends on your definition of warm.  We shall see...

More Chilean moments

 

Sleeveless in January - oh, yeah. 

 

 

 

 

View from our hotel in Valparaiso.  It's an old Pacific port town, heyday before the Panama Canal.

Check out those Texas flags...

Ritzy rooftop bar in Santiago where we had wine and tapas.  Great ceviche, empanadas, and view of the Andes.  Again, shorts in January!

Sundays between 9 am and 2 pm, the city of Santiago blocks off a nice loop for cyclists, no cars and volunteers at each intersection to stop the cars.  We rented a beach cruiser and spent 3 hours riding around the city with the locals and checking out all the sites.  What a fantastic idea - maybe some cities in US will catch on to this. 

Interesting sculpture garden in Santiago along river bank.  This is one of the sites we rode by.

Easter Island

I had wanted to see Easter Island for a long time, so when we started planning this trip to Chile and I found out it was actually part of Chile, I knew we had to include it.  I didn't realize then that it would take a five hour flight to get there from Santiago, but that didn't stop me.  I had a little trouble finding a tour guide available, but was finally able to book two days of guided tour and the hotel.

We arrived at about 11 pm so we didn't get to see much then, but we were met at the airport with leis made of real, fresh flowers and driven to our hotel.  The next morning we discovered that we were staying in one of those hotels you see advertised in travel magazines with the individual cabanas that have large doors that open up to a view of the ocean.  I couldn't have chosen anything better.  We had two days of guided tours around the island and through the national parks.  The guide was great and we even met some friendly Italians on the trip.   Here are some photos of the famous Moai.

 There are over 300 of them scattered over the island.  This last photo was taken at the quarry where they carved them.  I'm so glad we made the trip to see this.  The island was fantastic, so laid back and friendly.  Only those who are descendants of the original tribes can own property, so there are no highrise condos, no Starbucks, no McDonalds,..., just a perfect place to go for vacation.

Chilean Discoveries

 

One of my favorites - Yugo Naturales.  This is one made from cantaloupe melon.  It's just a fruit drink made from frozen fruit.  I had a Yugo de frambuesca almost everyday - raspberries and delicious.

 

 

Our first day in Santiago we took a walking tour and went to the food markets.  It was great to see all the summer fruits and vegetables there for sale.  Every city I visit, I enjoy seeing the markets.

We drove to the coast, or rather Dago drove us to the coast to a great restaurant on a cove.  This is renata  - Chilean fish and really tasty.

 

We enjoyed some fantastic foods and local wines on our trip.  Rolo discovered Carmenere.  It's a varietal that was thought to be extinct and then several years ago they found it growing in Chile.  It's a really nice, earthy red.

After a dip in the Pacific, nothing better than a freshly peeled little pineapple - better than a popsicle.

The Bamboo Bike

In Valparaiso, Chile we were walking down the street and found this to attract attention.  What an artistic expression of a bicycle.  Somebody has some creativity.  Check out the detail all the way down to a chain and derailleurs front and rear.  How about those brakes?

Motorized Bicycles in Chile

The advances in batteries and efficiencies in electrical motors has caused lots of electrical driven vehicles from cars to scooters.   Old school would dictate a small 2-stroke engine (like from a chain saw) spewing smoke down the road grafted onto a bicycle frame.  If you want to get really fancy, a company could take it on and make it more professional.  While in Chile I saw several of these things and here are some pictures.  Pedal or spew smoke...your choice.

Graffiti or art?

We just got back from 2 weeks in Chile.  What a wonderful country Chile is.  Everyone seemed very happy and I was told by a local that Chile currently has the strongest economy for all of South America.  Don't know if that is true but the people on the streets were very happy.

Everyone has seen graffiti all over walls, garage doors or what not.  Chile is not immune from that either but the Chilean government passed some new laws that have had an impact.  The law basically classifies paintings on walls, garage doors, etc. as art.  Apparently there is different classes of offenses if you are caught putting graffiti on a blank wall or on top of art and if you do it on top of art the penalty is very steep.  This is what a local Chilean told me.  So what has happened is the emergence of art all over.  Here are some examples we saw so I ask you...graffiti or art?